Fifty Shades of Greyer Still
by herocksmyworld
Summary: A successful and beautiful CEO comes to a local College to select interns for his company's summer program. But who will he choose? And will it be for the right reason? First ever attempt, will post additional chapters if interest!
1. Chapter 1

It was with a slightly fuzzy head that Anastasia eased herself out of bed for her 10:30am class. She was not a morning person on the best of days, let alone ones like today where she was suffering the effects of one too many alcoholic beverages. In spite of her slightly aching head she smiled to herself as she stepped in the shower and began the process of scrubbing off the black entry stamp that declared she had spent the previous night at 'Club Halo'. It had been one of her and her flatmates better nights out - all too often it seemed their nights were cut short by one or the other of them having one shot too many. Last night was one of the rarer times where all three girls had managed to consume a substantial yet acceptable amount of alcohol. No mean feat when you're 20 years old with little drinking experience to speak of.

Ana shivered as she stepped out of the shower and hastily wrapped one of her lavender coloured towels around her. She made no effort to rub herself down with it but simply pulled it tight as she selected first a pair of jeans and then a cream vest top with some lace edging she had recently bought. She glanced over at her digital alarm clock as she swept her hair into a long ponytail that snaked down her back. 10:21. Shit. Even cycling she was going to struggle to be there in nine minutes. Grabbing her bag she took one final glance in the mirror before hurrying out the door.

Anastasia eased the door of the handle down as she crept into the back of the class to surreptitiously take one of the seats at the back of the classroom.

'Like lateness, for example.' A loud and unfamiliar voice stated to the quiet of the class. Ana looked up in surprise to find the owner of the voice stood at the front of the class, his icy grey eyes staring into hers. Her eyes widened at the sight of him, he was by far the hottest guy she had ever had the fortune of laying eyes on.

'I was just saying to your classmates, that some things, while tolerated in a college environment, are not acceptable in a working environment. You, miss...?'

'Anastasia. Anastasia Steele.' she supplied, cringing at this unwanted attention.

'You, Miss Steele, have demonstrated this perfectly. Would you think it acceptable to turn up ten minutes late for a business meeting?'

'No, Sir.' She replied, her eyes still lowered so as not to meet his.

'Good. Me neither.' His mouth curls up into a tiny but amused smile, as his eyes turn back to address the whole class.

'So,' he says, 'I will be looking for not only the three of you that I consider to possess the best business acumen, but also the three I consider have the appropriate level of maturity and responsibility for this internship. Any questions?'

As several hands raised to ask questions, things started to fall into place in Ana's mind as to who this intimidating and frankly, stunning, stranger was. Their usual Professor, who she now noticed was sitting quietly in the corner at the front of the room, had told them last week that the CEO of the largest privately owned company in the state (and perhaps even the country) had agreed to take on three interns for the summer from each of Professor Hayes' three Higher Business classes. She almost laughed out loud at the odds of her now being one of those three, after she couldn't even get to the damn class on time.

Lost in her own thoughts, Anastasia barely noticed the paper that fluttered down in front of her until the man began to speak again,

'For those of you that want it, the paper in front of you is your ticket to the internship at my organisation. Impress me.'

Ana watched as this beautiful man whom, looking down at her paper she now knew was called 'Christian Grey' of Grey Holdings Limited, gracefully made his way to the corner of the room where Professor Hayes was sitting and arranged himself on an empty plastic chair. Anastasia glanced over the paper without bothering to take out a pen from her bag. Business was not her passion. It had never held much interest to her and it was purely on the advice of her Personal Tutor that she had undertaken this module, assured that it was essential for desired career of running a publishing house.

'Problem, Miss Steele?' Fuck. He had caught her on the back foot again. She blushed as she looked up at the smoldering set of eyes staring down at her.

'No, Sir.'

'Then I would suggest you begin. Or is my organisation not worthy of you putting pen to paper?'

'No, Sir. I mean yes, Sir. I mean it is worthy. Of course, yes.' She realised she was babbling and felt her cheeks heat up once again.

'I'm glad you think so.' He smirked, offering the pencil he held in his hand to her.

She gently took the pencil from him, whispering her thanks.

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

Thirty minutes had passed when Anastasia put her pencil down with a sigh. She was almost positive that her responses to the questions on the paper would not meet the approval of a billionaire, capitalist entrepreneur. Particularly the part where she had condemned companies such as his for their disregard for the environment and refusal to invest more money into cleaner, alternative energy sources. She'd even gone so far as to question the company's outsourcing of labour to less developed nations and their working conditions. She wasn't entirely sure there was any truth to that statement; she thought perhaps she'd read something of that nature in the local paper. Oh well, she thought to herself, as she passed her paper towards the front, it's not like I even care about a stupid internship anyway.

'Thank you everybody. I will be reviewing your answers before your next class on Thursday when I will be announcing the chosen three.'

But she did care. She cared more than she'd even let herself believe.

The next 48 hours before her next class seemed to drag on forever to Ana. She fought with the idea that Christian Grey had paid her more attention than anyone else, that she was the only one that he seemed to let his eyes linger on for more than a couple of seconds. But the more realistic voice in her head would tell her that she was being stupid, that he wouldn't possibly waste his time and thoughts on someone like her. He had obviously thought her immature and certainly not good enough for his oh so special internship.

When Thursday finally arrived Ana took extra care whilst getting ready, spending more time than usual highlighting her larger than average eyes, which she'd always considered her best feature. It certainly wasn't her breasts, she thought ruefully, as she looked down at them. They'd grown to sweet little handful size when she was 18 and stubbornly refused to get any bigger.

Anastasia looked over at her alarm clock as she draped a dainty silver necklace around her neck. She would make sure to leave plenty of time to get to class, to hell was she going to be reprimanded for arriving late again.

When she arrived to class she was relieved to find she was one of the first there and she slipped into one of the aisle seats about halfway back. She could see him, Christian Grey, stood at the front talking quietly with Professor Hayes. He looked much the same as he had done two days previously, except this time he wore no tie, just a crisp white shire, open at the collar. Ana was sure no white shirt had ever looked that good. On anyone. Ever.

Oh crap. He was walking towards her. Just be cool, stay calm, she told herself, then promptly managed to knock both the pen and pencil she had placed on the desk skittering onto the floor. It seemed they had barely touched the floor before he was holding them out to her, the same secret little smile playing on his lips that she had seen the last time.

'My, my,' he said silkily as she took the items from his hand, 'on time and you've brought writing implements. Aren't you a fast learner?'

'I endeavour to be.' _I endeavour to be? _she thought to herself, what a weird, formal answer I just gave.

He was now back at the front standing in front of the 50 or so people that were standing in front of him.

'Now I'm going to make this quick as I'm afraid I'm short of time today. I will firstly say I enjoyed reading your answers to my questions and on the whole, was impressed with the quality of the responses. Most of them were intelligent and thoughtful. Based on these, and the conversations I have had with Professor Hayes, I am now ready to announce the three people from this class I have chosen. If you could please join me at the front if your name is called.'

He glanced down at the paper be held in his hands, 'the three people are David Mulroy, Kevin Chang and...Anastasia Steele.'

Ana's breath caught in her throat as she realised her name had been called. She shakily made her way to the front to stand beside the the two boys, who, unlike her, simply looked happy and pleased with themselves. She was aware Christian Grey was talking again but couldn't seem to tune in to what he was saying until he was making his way down the line, shaking their hands.

'...so although this is a brilliant opportunity, my expectations of you all will be extremely high.' His eyes seemed to blaze as he held out his hand to her. She gulped as he leaned forwards to take her hand and said two words which she couldn't quite made out were an invitation or a threat.

'Especially you.'

End of chapter two


	3. Chapter 3

Ana paused outside the front of the offices of Grey Holdings Limited and took a moment to look up at the building before her. Weirdly the architecture seemed to her like an extension of him, imposing yet sleek, with huge steel beams holding the structure in place. The silver lettering that adorned the front of the building was slightly curved and fleetingly she was reminded of the curve of his lips when she had briefly seen him smile in class. There was something about that smile she just couldn't quite put her finger on – it was….dangerous, somehow.

She looked down at her watch – eight o clock. She was a full half an hour early. She took a deep breath and walked towards the huge doors of the building with a sense of purpose she didn't really feel. The foyer of the building was huge, with an enormous desk that spanned the width of the reception area. Sat behind the desk were three women, all spaced equidistantly apart, and all absolutely beautiful. The women were so alike they looked almost like clones to Anastasia. Each of them shared the same hair colour and skin tone and was dressed identically in sharp, fitted navy suits. Even their lipstick matched. The perfectly manicured nails of Clone Number One stilled on her keyboard as she noticed Ana.

'May I help you?' She smiled withawarmth that Ana hadn't expected.

'I'm Anastasia Steele. I'm here for the internship?'

'Oh yes. I have your temporary pass here which you'll need to access some areas of the building' she said, passing a plastic card dangling on a lanyard over the desk, 'and you'll need to take any of the elevators on the left up to the 25th floor.'

She smiled kindly at Ana as she gestured to the elevators.

'Good luck.'

Ana smiled grimly to herself. Why did she think she was going to need it?

The lift doors opened to another desk, with yet another clone sat behind it.

'Are you here for the internship program?' She asked.

As Ana nodded in response she pointed to a set of doubles doors, 'If you'd like to take a seat in the waiting room through those doors. You're a bit early so we're still waiting on a few people but there are some others already here.'

Ana walked through into the waiting room where there were three people, all male and all obviously interns like her, seated around the room on expensive looking black leather chairs. She chose a seat next to one of the boys who had also been selected from her Business 3 class. He ginned at her as she sat down, holding out his hand.

'Ana? You're in Business 3, right?'

'Yep, that's me. Ana from Business 3.' She answered.

He obviously didn't detect the hint of sarcasm in her voice as he enthusiastically shook her hand.

'I'm David. Aren't you just so psyched to be here? This guy is like a legend, Ana. He's the youngest CEO in the country, maybe the world even! His company is worth more than some small countries. I mean, can you even believe that!? He literally has more money in his checking account than the whole of Haiti….'

Ana nodded her head and smiled as she carefully began to tune out David's words. She really didn't care about how much money Grey had – she was much more interested in finding out how he managed to get his hair to fall so perfectly than she was dissecting his bank account.

Looking around her she now counted nine people in the room, six male and three female. She didn't recognise any of them apart from David and the other guy from her Business Class. Her heart sank as her eyes rested on one of the other two girls. She was one of those leggy blonde types, all perfect white teeth and perky breasts. Surely he was never going to notice her with someone like that in the room, Ana thought to herself. Her mind once again began to wonder to why she was even here in the first place. Surely he would have found out from Professor Hayes that she was anEnglish major? And the paper that they'd filled in, hers had been offensive if anything, hadn't it?

She had no more time to question his motives any further because all of a sudden, there he was. A hush fell over the room and everyone seemed to sit up a bit straighter in their seats. Christian was everything Ana had remembered him to be – tall, beautiful and gut wrenchingly sexy. She stole a glance at the other two females in the rooms and saw that this fact definitely hadn't escaped them either. Leggy Blonde looked like she was practically undressing him with her eyes.

'Good morning everyone,' he stated, without smiling.

A few people mumbled unsure 'good morning's in response.

'I want to welcome you all to Grey Holdings Limited. I hope you will all be able to gain an insight into the business world that you otherwise would not have been able to sitting in a classroom. As many of you will know, there are several different strands to this business, and I have arranged for you to spend time learning about each one. Your skills and knowledge, as well as your intuition, will be tested throughout your time here. Whichever individual is the most successful and shows the most potential to me will be guaranteed an immediate position at my company on graduation.'

An excited murmur went around the room at this last line.

'I am now going to ask each of you to step into my office for a short discussion before I introduce you to Dean Richards, who is the Divisional Head of M&A here.' His eyes scanned down a sheet of paper he held in his hands.

'Leah Carmichael, we'll start with you please.'

Leggy Blonde practically catapulted out of her seat in her haste to follow him into his office. Ana watched carefully as she saw him give a curt nod as he held the door open for Leah to enter his office.

Ana looked around the room at the seven other nervous faces around her. She hurriedly reached into her bag to pull out a well-thumbed copy of Pride & Prejudice to pass the time. As she tried to distract herself with the issues facing Elizabeth Bennet rather than herself, she noticed the number of people in the room dwindling as each of them entered his office and then exited to another boardroom to await further instruction. Finally, only she remained, anxiety beginning to bloom inside her.

Christian opened the door to his office and caught Anastasia stuffing her book back into her bag. He held the door open and motioned for her to step inside. She walked toward him with her head slightly bowed, her blue eyes wide.

He had to hide a smile as his eyes rested on her it been cruel of him to leave her waiting until last? He had barely been able to concentrate on those that had come before her, as the image of her nervously chewing on her bottom lip in the waiting room had filled his mind.

'Now, Anastasia, sorry to have kept you waiting,' he said, without sounding remotely sorry, 'I thought perhaps we'd first discuss your answers to the questions on the paper I gave everyone.'

He casually tossed a copy of her finished questions across the desk to her.

'What would you like to discuss, Mr Grey?' She asked quietly.

'Well it certainly was an interesting read, Miss Steele. You addressed points that not a single other person even mentioned. I particularly liked the part where you talked about alternative energy sources. I did not however like the suggestion that my company was one those that you accused of not investing enough money in this field, nor that you accused me of using cheap labour in China and providing poor working conditions.' His eyes burned into hers intently.

Ana frantically tried to formulate some sort of response but words seemed to elude her.

'What do you have to say about that, Miss Steele?'

'I, uh, I thought I read something in the paper but….' her voice trailed off as she caved under his glare.

'I would've thought with your ambitions to work in publishing and the fact that you've taken every journalism class your college has to offer, you of all people would know that you can't believe everything you read in the newspaper. If memory serves me correctly, it was a failing local publication that ran that story, wasn't it?'

'Yes, Sir.' She whispered.

'Not that I need to justify myself to you Miss Steele, but perhaps you would be interested to know that Grey Holdings Limited is the only company of its kind in the US that uses only US production bases and that we employ in excess of 20,000 US citizens?'

'I'm sorry. I didn't know! I just…' Her voice now had a desperate edge to it.

'Quiet.' He murmured, reaching in to a drawer beside him and pulling out a thick, A4 booklet. Wordlessly, he rose from his chair and placed it in front of Ana.

'Page 83. About halfway down.'

With trembling hands she began to leaf through the pages. Halfway down page 83, there was no mistaking the line he wanted her to read.

_Christian Grey, CEO of Grey Holdings Limited and Chief Commissioner of the American Association of Alternative Energy_ _(AAE),_ _has pledged $1.5bn of his personal wealth to the cause for_ _the year_ _2011/2012._

Oh fuck! She wanted to scream as she mentally kicked herself. How could she have got it so wrong?

'I don't know what to say, Mr Grey. I had no idea.' She managed to get out.

'We all make mistakes, Miss Steele. So now you do know.' A smile crept across his face.

She had almost let herself breathe a sigh of relief when he took her chin in two of his fingers and titled her head so her eyes looked up into his. She couldn't remember ever feeling so intimidated. It wasn't the fact that she intimidated that worried her though, it was the fact that she had never been more turned on in her entire life.

'That being said, Miss Steele, should you feel like putting any more of your inaccurate information about my company onto paper in future, there will be consequences.'

'What kind of consequences?' Christian did not show any hint of the surprise he felt at her vocalising this question, but there was no disguising the glimmer of excitement he saw in hers.

'Let's just say…..I have a few more ways of teaching somebody a lesson than simply a few stern words.' She felt his grip tighten on her chin as he tilted her head back further until it was bordering on uncomfortable.

'Do I make myself clear, Miss Steele?'

Her answer was barely audible.

'Crystal.'


	4. Chapter 4

As the elevator sailed silently down from the 25th floor to the lobby Anastasia felt a sense of relief wash over her. A few of the other interns were in the elevator with her, talking excitedly about the events of the day and the prospect of one of them being given a coveted role at Grey Holdings Limited after graduation. Ana could not bring herself to share in their excitement - her day had been god damn confusing in contrast. As Ana made her way out of the building and began the short walk to where her car was parked in a nearby residential street, she once again tried to make sense of Christian's behaviour, as well as the reaction it evoked in her.

_'Let's just say I have a few more ways of teaching somebody a lesson than simply a few stern words.'_

His words echoed in her head for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. What did that even mean? She thought again to herself as she slid into the driver's seat of her aging but well-loved Volkswagen. Perhaps he would report her to the college on some kind of libelous allegation? No, surely not. That would be ridiculous. She almost wished she had asked him for some clarification when he had made the threat...oh the message was clear enough - this was not a man to be messed with, she knew that much. Perhaps he was just trying to scare her. Yes, that's what it was, she decided. He obviously got some sort of kick out of making idle threats to young girls who didn't know any better. She didn't want to acknowledge that she too got a kick out of being on the receiving end of it. She vowed next time, should there be a next time, she would do as her Stepfather had always taught her and stand up for herself!

As it turned out, Anastasia would have to wait quite some time to test this new resolve as Christian Grey did not make an appearance for almost two weeks. As each day passed she found that, to her surprise, she actually began to enjoy her time at Grey Holdings Limited. Seeing business principles applied in practice was fascinating to Anastasia in a way that she had never previously found during her business classes at college. She had a sharp mind and enjoyed the problem solving exercises they were given as interns. Even enthusiastic David and the other interns seemed a lot more bearable to her now. On the fifth day of the internship she had been paired with him for a group task and was delighted when collectively they had come up with the correct answer before any of the other pairs. Although a small part of her longed to set eyes on Christian again, she could not help but feel relieved that she could walk in the doors in the morning without the gnawing trepidation that had plagued her on the first few days.

It was perhaps this letting down of her guard that was responsible for her next encounter with Mr Grey being just as troublesome as the previous ones.

Her second Friday at GHL and her tenth day in total there started much the same as any other. It was 07:55 when she pulled into the drive through at Starbucks to order her usual Skinny Hazelnut Latte, a process that usually took no more than five minutes. She began to feel slightly edgy when at 08:05 her car still hadn't moved in the line and, what's more, she had no way of reversing out due to the vehicle waiting behind her. She craned her head out of the car window to try and see what was causing the delay, but could see nothing. At 08:15 she resigned herself to the fact that she was not going to make it to the offices by 08:30 and wondered idly if she should try and contact Diane, a Senior Executive at GHL who had been working with them that week, to let her know. As she was about to get her phone from her bag, the cars in front of her began to move and before she knew it she was at the window collecting her order. Phew. If she drove quickly she would be no more than ten minutes late.

Ana took one last look at her watch as she stood in the elevator going up to the 25th floor. 08:45 - not too bad, all things considered. She had been early or at the very least on time every other day, she consoled herself as the elevator doors opened.

It took all of her strength not to let the coffee slip from her hand onto the marble floor as she found herself looking directly into the eyes of Mr Christian Grey.

Fuck! Why did he have to be here? Why now, why today of all days?

'Well, well, well. This seems to be a recurring theme with you, Miss Steele.' He purred.

'And what theme would that be, Mr Grey?' She replied. She was determined not to crack under his cold stare. I haven't done anything wrong, she told herself. There were circumstances I couldn't help. I'll apologise for being late, but that's it.

Christian could not hide his amusement at her retort. Feeling brave today, was she?

'Perhaps you'd like to discuss it in my office, Miss Steele?'

She looked up at him but his face betrayed nothing. Keep strong Ana, she told herself, don't let him intimidate you.

'Fine.' She said quietly, waiting for him to lead the way.

He smirked at her as he plucked the coffee cup from her hand, raised it to his lips and drank from it, his eyes never leaving hers.

'Hazelnut, Anastasia. Nice choice.' He handed the cup back to her and left her standing speechless as he turned and strode towards his office.

Whaaaat? Why the hell had he done that?

Ana nervously closed the door to his office behind her and sat opposite him in the same chair she'd sat in on her very first day.

'Would you like to explain to me why you think it is acceptable to arrive fifteen minutes late when everybody else has managed to arrive on time?' He looked relaxed as he looked over his desk her. She was positive he was enjoying making her feel uncomfortable.

'With all due respect, Mr Grey, this is the first time I have been late since I started here and I can assure you I didn't do it on purpose. I'm very sorry I'm late and that I seem to have held up your day, although why you'd be waiting around for me I just don't know!' The more she went on the bolder she seemed to become.

'Sometimes, things happen that you just can't help and this morning was one of those times. There are some things you just can't control, Mr Grey!'

A slience hung in the air between them before it was broken by Christian laughing out loud.

Why the hell was he laughing?

'Why, Anastasia, that what quite a little speech for such a little girl. But you're wrong, you know. I find I can exercise control over most things.' A smile played on his lips that didn't quite reach his eyes.

'But not me,' she heard herself say.

'Is that a challenge, Miss Steele?'

Her face began to heat up and there was no denying the burning desire she felt when he spoke those six little words.

His voice interrupted the quiet that had fallen between them.

'Do you have plans this Saturday night, Anastasia?'


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry that this is quite a short chapter. The next one will be much longer! I hope you enjoy and thanks again for all the reviews :)**

If Christian Grey had managed to shock her up until this point, it was nothing compared to the words that came out his mouth next.

'I thought perhaps you might like to join me for dinner, Miss Steele.'

'But, but...you don't...I thought you hated me, Mr Grey?' She burst out.

'Quite the contrary, Miss Steele. I find you...captivating. I've wanted to get you alone since the first time I laid eyes on you.'

'Then maybe you ought to have found a better way of showing it.'

He frowned slightly at the mocking tone in her voice. 'It hasn't taken you long to find your voice, has it?'

'You've done nothing but chastise me from the moment we met, Mr Grey. I'm not entirely sure I'm willing to subject myself to more of the same on a Saturday night.'

There was that secret smile again, as if he was laughing to himself. 'I like your smart mouth, Anastasia. Although I'd like to silence it even more.'

What on earth did he mean by that? She tried desperately to ignore the frisson of excitement she felt at his words and concentrate on the irritation she felt.

'Enough talking now.' He rose from his seat and held the door open, singalling the conversation was over.

As she rose to leave she could feel the familiar sensation of her cheeks heating up. God he looked sexy standing there like that.

'You can say no to me, Anastasia, but don't look me in the eye and tell me that you are not tempted. I don't like being lied to.' He smouldered.

She gulped. 'And how do you think you know that?'

He raised one of his eyebrows and held out a business card to her clamped between two fingers. 'Your mouth might be saying no but your body, on the other hand is screaming yes, Miss Steele. If you change your mind, my number's on here.'

She hoped he wouldn't notice the tremble in her hands as she reached out to take it. What was she thinking? Of course he would, she thought sardonically.

I am not going to call him. I am not going to call him. I am not going to call him.

She repeated this mantra in her head over and over again as she rythmically stirred the soup she was heating up for lunch. With her two flatmates away for the summer, she had begun to get used to the quiet of the apartment, but now she craved for something, anything, to distract her from wanting to call Christian Grey. She didn't so much mind admitting that she wanted to see him, it was the fact that she was almost certain that he knew she would call him and she just didn't want to prove him right.

As she was spooning her soup into a bowl her phone beeped from where it lay on the table. Picking her phone up from the table, she instinctively knew it would be him.

_I'll pick you up at 8. CG._

Her fingers moved frenetically as she typed her response.

_Do I even have a choice? Ana._

His reply was instantaneous.

_No, Miss Steele, I don't believe you do._

She could imagine the smirk on his face as he wrote the message.

Just as she was pondering what to respond another message quickly followed.

_...get used to it._

Jeez. That sounded ominous. She put her phone back on the table, sure her heart was going to burst out of her chest if it was to beat any harder.


	6. Chapter 6

Ana could scarcely believe that two weeks ago, she hadn't even heard the name Christian Grey and now here she was, sat opposite him in one of the most expensive restaurants in town.

She had dressed carefully for the occasion, wanting to look attractive, sexy even, without looking like she'd tried too hard or spent hours getting ready. Which, of course, she had. He, by contrast, never managed to look anything else but effortlessly beautiful.

Thus far they had exchanged few words, Ana preferring to keep quiet lest she betray the nervousness in her voice. Unfortunately for Ana, her nerves were more than evident to Christian. He watched with amusement as she swirled her wine around and around in the glass.

'I hope all that swirling you're doing improves the flavour of the wine, Miss Steele.'

Abruptly she stopped, and shyly returned the encouraging smile he was giving her. She was finding this experience much harder than she thought she would. All of the nerve she seemed to have had in his office had vanished and instead she felt...vulnerable.

'You know Anastasia, I'm finding you very difficult to work out,' he mused, 'when I first met you at school you seemed so...naive. It was sweet, all your 'yes, sir, no, sir, sorry, sir'. And then yesterday...you shocked me. You were stronger, bolder. People don't often answer me back you know, Miss Steele.'

She cleared her throat before she spoke. 'You were being unreasonable, Mr Grey.'

'Maybe I was.' Wow. Christian Grey admitting he was unreasonable! Whatever next.

'I'm just not sure what you want from me, Mr Grey.'

For the first time since she had met him, his eyes looked sad, the self assured air he always maintained gone.

'What if that's the problem, Anastasia?'

'I'm sorry, I'm not sure I'm following...'

'What if what I want from you isn't what you want? That's an entirely likely possibility, Anastasia.'

'But I can't possibly know that, Christian.' It struck her for the first time that he hadn't at any point asked her to address him as Christian.

'You haven't really given me any clues as to what it is you actually want.'

'Haven't I, Anastasia?' His tone was dark.

'Maybe you have,' she conceded, 'but I sure as hell don't know what they are. One minute, I can't seem to do anything right in your eyes and the next you're inviting me to have dinner with you! Or perhaps that should be 'forcing' me to have dinner you.' She smiled wryly at him in an attempt to lighten the mood.

He managed a small smile. 'You didn't mind that though, did you? You didn't mind me making that choice for you.'

'Well, no, I guess not. I find you attractive, Christian, that much must be obvious to you, surely? It's hard for me to make sense of it, you know. I'm not sure if you really like me, or you just get some kind of kick over exerting your authority over young girls that work for you.'

'Mostly that's true, Anastasia. Except the part about young girls that work for me. My rule has always been not get involved with people that work for me. For you, I seem to have made an exception.' He smiled again.

'So where does this leave us, Mr Grey?' She was beginning to lose patience with his elusiveness.

'I need to show you, Anastasia.'

Before she knew it they were racing through the streets of Seattle in Christian's frighteningly fast and, she thought, probably equally as expensive car. She had no idea what kind of car it was, just that it was one of those cars that guys would get out of their cars at a gas station to come and look at it. She had butterflies in her stomach again, they seemd to be a permenant side effect of being in a hundred metre radius of this man. A contstant stream of possibilities had been running through her head since they had left the restaurant of what it could be that he need to show her so badly. Maybe he had some kind of weird sexual predilection? Oh God, she hoped not. Or maybe he liked to dress as a woman and be 'Miss Christina' as weekends. She sniggered to herself as she imagined him, always so serious and controlled tottering around on high heels with a purse.

'Something you find amusing, Miss Steele?'

She shook her head, still smiling to herself.

'Anastasia, you insult me. I thought I made it clear to you how I feel about people lying to me.'

Her eyes narrowed at his response. 'We're not in the office now, Grey. I'll bend to your will there if I have to, but I'm not going to do it on my own time.'

He swung the car into a parking space as the approached a extravagant block of apartments and abruptly cut the gas.

He turned slowly in his seat until he faced her, his eyes full of unspoken promises.

'We'll see about that, Anastasia.'


	7. Chapter 7

**I hope you enjoy...please keep reviewing, I love to hear your opinions!**

Shit! Ana wasn't sure she even wanted to know what that would mean for her. She felt awash with emotions - anticipation, fear, excitement and above all, pure desire.

She wondered if the tension in the elevator was as palpable to Christian as it was to her. She took a sideways glance at him but his expressoin remained impassive and his eyes looked straight ahead. But of course, she thought, when you're the one with all the knowledge, you probably would look impassive. Knowledge is power. Never had that old adage been so true. She certainly didn't have either one.

Christian stood with his arm held out as the doors opened to the Penthouse.

'After you, Miss Steele.'

Once inside she followed him through to what she assumed was the main room of the apartment. The room was vast, open plan and deorated in a style she thought typical of him. All clean lines and expensive materials so that everything looked...solid. The only nod to anything remotely feminine was the thick, white carpet covering the floor.

'A glass of wine, perhaps Anastasia?' Christian had moved to the kitchen area which was huge in itself, probably equivalent to the entire floor space of the apartment she shared. He stood holding the fridge door open, waiting for her response. She noted his demeanour had changed somewhat, he seemed slightly less formidable to her, more relaxed now he was in his own environment. Good. Maybe it was time for her to try and claim back some of the control she seemed to have ceded to him.

'Sure. And then you can let me in on this big secret you seem to have.' She took a seat at one of the tall, black stools arranged at the breakfast bar and swivelled gently from side to side, trying to guage his reaction. The hand he was using to pour the wine stopped and he turned to face her.

'Oh, can I?' His voice was quiet, but she could detect amusement too.

'Yes, you can.' You can do it, stand firm, she coached herself in her head.

'How about you concentrate on drinking your wine whilst I give you the grand tour?' He smiled as he held out the wine glass to her.

'Ok.' She replied, taking it from firm - well that lasted all of about five seconds.

Her mind was elsewhere as she followed him from around the apartment, as well as the main room he showed her a large study, a formal dining room with a long, solid oak table flanked by expensive looking high-backed chairs and a small libarary with floor to ceiling shelves of books framing a billiard table that occupied the centre of the room. It did not escape her notice that he had made no move to show her his bedroom. The one room she actually was eager to see.

'Would you like to play, Anastasia?' His voice interrupted her thoughts.

She stroked the soft green baize gently with her fingers. 'Not really my game I'm afraid, Mr Grey.'

'Something else then?' Without waiting for an answer he took her hand and led her out of the room to another door further down the hallway.

'Maybe something in here will take your interest.'

This room lacked the formality the rest of the apartment seemed to have. There was a large, comfortable looking couch facing an enormous television screen mounted on the wall, with an array of games consoles and devices set up beneath it. There was table football, a dark wood round table with six chairs set around it for poker and other card games, a dart board. Jeez. He had everything.

Her eyes fell upon the table tennis table on the opposite side of the room from the couch. _Excellent_, she thought to herself_. _She didn't have much confidence in her sporting prowess in most sports, but table tennis...well, that was an entirely different matter. Year upon year of summer camp spent playing endless games of tennis table over a period of eight weeks had helped to ensure that seldom had she come across a player that could beat her.

She tried to suppress the enthusiasm in her voice as she looked up at Christian.

'How about...table tennis?' She asked as evenly as she could.

He raised an eyebrow at her, assessing the expression on her face combined with the overly innocent tone of her voice.

'Ok, you're on, Miss Steele. Table tennis it is.' She watched as he reached on top of a shelf to pull down a selection of immaculate looking paddles and fanned them out in his hands. 'Any preference?'

She took the first one her fingers rested upon and tilted her head sideways. 'No I don't think so, Christian. I'm sure any of these will be perfectly adequate to beat you with.'

His face broke into a crooked smile at her words. 'You had better hope for your sake that it is you beating me, Anastasia, and not the other way around.'

'I don't think I have anything to worry about on that front, Mr Grey.' She replied smoothly.

He said nothing, simply sauntered to the other end of the table, took a new ball from an opened package on the shelf and bounced it causually on the table.

Before she even had a chance to move, he served the ball with such pace it whistled straight past her and ricocheted off the wall onto the floor.

Oh crap. He was good - really good.

Christian reached back and took another ball from the shelf. 'Let's try that again, shall we?' His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

He threw the ball gently into the air and served again, this time with less force, but with so much spin Ana lunged too far forward, missing the ball by several inches.

'Fuck!' The expletive came out of her mouth before she had chance to stop herself.

He walked around to her end of the table, gripped her shoulders firmly until she was facing an open glass cabinet she hadn't previously noticed. Her eyes ran over the various sized cups, trophies and medals. He reached out and took one of the medals, a gold disk hanging on a blue ribbon. and dangled it in her eye line.

_**U.S. National Table Tennis Championship - Under 15s Winner**_

'Oh dear.' She whispered.

'Oh dear, indeed. Once we've finished this game, I'm going to show you what happens to brazen little girls that think they can challenge me.'

He heard her sharp intake of breath as he let his words sink in.

'Are you threatening me, Mr Grey?'

He put his hand out and brushed a lock of her hair back that had fall across her face and smiled.

'I'm educating you, Miss Steele.'


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry it has taken a while but hopefully you enjoy some of the 'good stuff' in this chapter ;-)**

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_'Once we've finished this game, I'm going to show you what happens to brazen little girls that think they can challenge me'_

How on earth she was supposed to play an entire game of table tennis with a threat like that on the table, she just didn't know.

Well screw you, Mr Grey, she thought to herself, I'm not giving up that easily.

'Would you like to serve this time?' He asked politely, proffering the ball to her.

She wordlessly took it from him, trying to ignore the thrill that ran through her body as her fingers brushed his.

Christian smiled to himself as he saw the look of determination that was now etched on Anastasia's face. He was confident she wouldn't be able to beat him, but he admired her resolve all the same.

As Ana served to him and they can began to rally back and forth he realised that her earlier confidence hadn't been all that misplaced after all. Despite a poor start, she really was an excellent player. Perhaps this wasn't going to be quite such an easy win as he had anticipated. For her part, Ana was determined that it wouldn't be. She fought hard to try and win every point from her serve and, although she didn't quite manage to win every one, she was still doing well.

After twenty minutes of extreme concentration and effort the score stood at 20-16 in Christian's favour.

'Match point, Anastasia.' He purred. _Jesus, he even makes the words 'match point' sound sexy!_

She watched as he stood posed to serve. She readied herself for another of the lightning quick serves he had been delivering throughout the game, standing ever so slightly further away from the table, her eyes trained on the little white ball.

She realised her error approximately a milisecond too late. Instead of another hard and fast shot, he delivered a feather light serve so that the ball barely cleared the net. It bounced once...twice, three times before it casually rolled onto the floor.

_Oh fuck!_

He stood looking at the wide eyed expression on her face, his mouth set in a satisfied smile.

'Now we've got that out of the way, Anastasia, I believe I was going to show you what happens to girls who think they can challenge me.'

She smiled tentatively, a heady mixture of fear and excitement swirling inside her.

He tossed his paddle casually onto the shelf and slowly sauntered around to where she stood. Tipping her chin up with his hand, he gently brushed along her bottom lip with his thumb before leaning in and kssing her, his fingers still clutching her chin.

Liquid desire streamed through her as she felt the heat of his lips on hers. Her legs weakened as his tounge explored the inside of her mouth. So it was true, she thought, a man really could make you go weak at the knees.

She opened her eyes as he pulled back.

'Upstairs.' He commanded, walking towards the door.

'Ok,' she whispered, 'I'll just put this back.' She held up her paddled to show him.

'No, Anastasia, you won't.'

His eyes were amused as he held the door open.

'We're not finished with that just rather, I'm not finished with it yet.'

_Huh!?_

Ana could feel his eyes on her as she walked slowly out of the room and back towards the huge main room of the in the middle of the room she turned around to face him.

'What now?' She breathed.

'So eager, Miss Steele. Well, since you ask, you're going to remove all these clothes you're wearing and I am going to make love to you until you scream.'

He paused, giving her some time to process these words.

'But, first, I'm going to spank you with that paddle you're holding.'

Her gasp was audible as she felt the paddle slip out of her hands and clatter onto the floor.

'Pick it up, Anastasia.' The tone of his voice was ominous.

But she couldn't. She felt like she couldn't move a single muscle as she stood motionless, rooted to the floor.

'I'm not going to ask you again.' If she was ever under any illusion that she had any control where he was concerned, she knew now she'd been mistaken.

Her breathing was ragged as she bent down slowly to retrieve it. Just as her fingertips touched the smooth red rubber she felt an almighty crack to her behind.

She sprang back up in surprise, her hands flying back to clutch the stinging area where he'd landed the smack.

She stared at him in disbelief, but in return he simply raised one eyebrow, daring her to protest.

As much as she knew she should, she couldn't go down without a fight.

She snatched the paddle up off the floor and held it out to him.

'Here you go, _Sir._'

He took the paddle from her and laughed quietly.

'Whilst I appreciate the address, Anastasia, I don't think now is the time for your attitude, do you?'

She glanced quickly at the paddle in his hand and shook her head sotfly.

'Answer me.' He ordered.

'No, Sir.' This time there was no hint of sarcasm in her voice.

'Better. Now take off your jeans. Quickly.'

With little hesitation this time she reached down, unbuttoned her jeans, worked them quickly over her hips and thighs and off over her feet. She straightened up and stood clumsily. She literally felt like her heart was in her mouth as he pulled on her wrist and, in one swift movement, sat down on the sofa and upended her over his pulse was racing as his hand moved in a circular motion over her panties.

He lent down and put his lips to her ear, sweeping her hair to one side. 'Relax, Anastasia.'

She nodded mutely and tried to follow his instruction; her whole body had tensed up over his lap. Once he felt her muscles muscles relax slightly he eased her panties down slowly, leaving them taut across her knees. She closed her eyes, trying to escape the feeling of complete helplessness at being so totally exposed in front of him. And then, nothing. She screwed up her face, waiting for the first blow to come. Several minutes passed until, with no warning, he brought the paddle down firmly across her cheeks. Her eyes flew open and a whimper escaped her lips as she tried to process the pain. Before she had time to compose herself, he brought the paddle down again and again and again, raining spanks all over her backside. She balled her fists up tightly, trying to do anything that would stop her crying out. He continued to spank her but slowed his pace so they now came at five second intervals. Her breathing evened as it dawned on her that, as well as being in pain, she also found herself turned on. The sting of the paddle brought not only pain, but there was pleasure in there somewhere as well. Suddenly all trace of this pleasure evaporated as Christian brought the paddle down hard, spanking her six, eight, ten times, she wasn't sure, in a row.

'Owwww!' She cried out, scrabbling around in an attempt to escape the iron like grip he had on her.

He stopped abruptly and the feel of rubber was replaced by the warmth of his hand, stroking and caressing her continued to do this until he felt her relax across his lap.

'Do you think you'll be in such a hurry to challenege me again now, Miss Steele?' His voice was calm now, softer.

'No, Sir.' She mumbled.

'Good.' She froze as he slowly moved his hand downwards and ran his index finger along her sex.

'You're wet, Anastasia.'

She felt blood rushing to her cheeks as he gently turned her over in his lap, gathered her up his arms and looked intently into her wide blue eyes.

'And what now?' She breathed.

'Now, Miss Steele, I'm going to take you into my bedroom and fuck you senseless.'


	9. Chapter 9

**Hope you enjoy chapter 9...it has taken a bit of a different direction to previous chapters so dominant Christian has had to take a bit of a backseat for this one! Please keep reading and reviewing if you can :)**

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Christian carried Anastasia easily into the bedroom and set her back on her feet in one fluid, graceful motion.

He took her face in his hands and she felt the familar sensation of weakness as his firm, warm lips found hers. He brushed his fingers through her hair, the soft strands laced through his fingers.

As he continued to kiss her Christian suddenly became aware of something hot and moist on his cheeks.

He pulled back from her, gripping her arms on either side, his eyes worried.

'Anastasia, what's wrong!?'

Tears dribbled down her face, making her look even younger than her twenty years.

'I don't know! I, just, I feel so...overwhelmed! I'm sorry, you must think I'm so silly standing here crying.'

She attempted a smile through her tears.

'No! No, not at all. I would never want you to feel like this. What is it? Please tell me.'

'It's just...tonight, it's all been so much. First, I thought you hated me, or just liked to see me uncomfortable, I don't know. And suddenly, we're having dinner and then...the spanking and God, I just don't know!'

She knew she wasn't making much sense. She wasn't sure she could explain her sudden change of mood to herself, let alone to him.

'Sshh, shhh, it's ok Anastasia.' He soothed, gently storking her hair.

'I'm so sorry I've made you feel like this. I didn't mean to hurt you, or overwhelm you by moving too fast. To be honest, I didn't mean to move this fast myself. It's just, you seem so...assured. I couldn't help myself, Anastasia. I wanted to spank you and have sex with you so badly I wasn't thinking how you might be feeling and whether it would be too much. Did you really hate it?'

'No!' She was quick to reassure him. 'It's hard to explain, Christian. I didn't hate it but it's not something I've experienced before and I'm struggling to put my feelings about it into words. It would help to know what we're doing here. I'm really attracted to you but you intimidate me as well. I'm not entirely sure in what capacity you want me, or whether you actually really like me.'

'Oh, Anastasia, I'm so sorry. Of course I really like you. I like everything about you! You're intelligent, funny, not to mention beautiful. And I even love that smart mouth of yours.' He smiled gently.

'It's sometimes hard to remember that when you're acting so domineering all the time, Christian.'

'Maybe I've been too much the domineering boss with you that I've forgotten to show you how much I actually like you. As I said before, I've gone much, much too fast with you. I haven't been completely honest with you and I probably shouldn't have subjected you to things which I don't know if you'll even enjoy. It seems like perhaps you didn't.' He smiled wryly at her.

'It's not that, Christian. I think I did enjoy it, in a weird, I'm-not-sure-why kind of way. It's just a lot to take in, you know?'

He was relieved her tears seem to have subsided.

'Come on. Let's go and have another drink and we can talk some more.'

'We're not going to have sex, then?' She asked tentatively.

'I don't think so. I think maybe it might just be a bit too much for tonight.'

She felt a twinge of disappointment at his words but the predominant feeling was of relief. It _had _all been a bit much.

Once they were settled on the sofa with another glass of wine each he began to talk again.

'I'm going to explain to you what I meant when I said I haven't been completely honest with you. My tastes are quite...specific, Anastasia. And the women that fit my specification, I generally fit theirs too.'

He paused to take a sip of his wine.

'You mentioned earlier that you found me intimidating, domineering. That's because I am. I enjoy being that way. I like to control things and I want people to do what I tell them to do.'

Her face looked confused. 'That isn't much of a surprise, Christian. I've seen you at work. And I hardly think you could run a major corporation like yours without telling people what to do.'

'Right. But this goes further than that,' he said gently, 'I like it in all areas of my life, not just my professional life. Put simply, Anastasia, I want to control you. And I want you to want me to control you. It turns me on when someone is submissive to me.'

Ana remained quiet, processing this information that, on some level, she had probably known all along about him. He had been like this from day one. Constantly chastising her, trying to control her. What normal guy takes a woman back to their apartment on the first date and spanks her with a ping pong paddle? Not that the experience had been awful, but still. She had tried to explain a lot of his previous behaviours as arrogance, or a by-product of the way he behaved in the business world. She could now see that this latest revelation made a lot more sense. She knew also that it didn't stop her wanting him regardless.

'You're being very quiet. Please say something.' His eyes were anxious, searching her face for clues as to what she was thinking.

'I suppose it hasn't come as a complete surprise. It explains a lot of your behaviour the last couple of weeks. What I'm not sure I understand now is why then you want me? You said yourself that I've got a smart mouth and that I challenge you. I'm not submissive, Christian, I'm stubborn if anything.'

'You're right, Miss Steele. You are all of those things. And I mean _all_ of those things. And I like that! I like that you're determined, or stubborn or whatever you want to call it. But you _are _submissive too. If the idea of submitting to my spanking you had been that abhorrent to you, you would have refused, I'm sure. There probably would have been an Anastasia shaped hole in that door!'

She laughed in spite of herself.

'Plus I like a challenge, Anastasia. I think it's probably good for me. And you're one hell of a table tennis player.'

She laughed again.'I was so sure I'd win.'

'I know. I like how even after you knew what sort of level I'd played at you still didn't give up. I could use you you in my boardroom.' He winked at her and she felt the familar feeling of lust in her stomach.

'At least there I wouldn't be in any danger of you spanking me.'

'I wouldn't be so sure, Anastasia.' His voice was serious but his eyes danced with humour.

'I'm pretty sure that might breach your company's sexual harrassment policy.'

'Depends who made the policy.' He quipped.

'I'm still not completely sure of this Christian. I don't know if I can be this compliant and submissive girl you seem to want.'

'I just want you to be you, Anastasia.'

'And you're still going to be Domineering Christian?'

'Well perhaps I'll try and bring Soft Christian out a bit more often.'

'I like Soft Christian.'

'Don't get too used to him. Otherwise I might have to beat you at table tennis again.'

'Hmm. Don't get too cocky. I'll beat you one of these days Mr Grey.'

'I don't think so somehow, Miss Steele.'

'And then maybe _I'll _be the one wielding the paddle.'

He laughed out loud.

'I can assure you, Anastasia, that that is _never _going to happen.'


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